Ok, here is the story. I really need help because it is killing me to see her face this way, plus, I am squeamish and I swear, I gag when I have to put meds on!

This has been going on for about a month. She is a 2 yeard old paso fino. Sweetest temperment EVER! I realize now I should have had a fly mask on her from day one. her eyes were runny, I guess she rubbed hard, and then flies started swarming around the open area. I called the vet and sent a pic to her. She agreed a fly mask and Aluminum Spray should be fine.

For about a week or two, I would see the wound almost healed...then, I would see her rubbing it and it would be open and disgusting. Then, it would heal up again. Last week, when I checked, it was AWFUL, the worst I had seen it. I called the vet again, and sent her a pic. She came out yesterday and cauterized it, plus, here is what meds she gave the filly, plus the meds I am to give her for the next few days...

She tranqued her and cut off the dead skin and then cauterized.

She gave her an injection of Dexamethasone

I see also "lasix injection" on the invoice-not sure what that is?

Then, I got 3 packets of trichlormeth/Dex, to give her in her food once a day.

When that powder is gone, I got a bottle of liquid dex to give her every other day until wound is gone.

I also got an ointment to put on twice daily, it is SSD wound cream mixed with 3 other things...I know one is a fly repellent, can't remember what the other 2 ingredients are.

After I put on ointment, spray w/alushield and then put on fly mask.

What do you think? Any tips or tricks out there for me?

I may post a separate thread for this. I want to know why there is not a hard, helmet like fly mask to put on a horse to protect it from rubbing a facial wound??? No one has ever heard of that, and I am surprised. I would think a soft plastic helmet type fly mask, with small holes punched all over so it can breathe, would be a great idea.

Wow, sorry to hear it took a turn for theworse!
Sounded like she was on the mend....

Hmmm, you know what you could try....
What about altering an existing fly mask by inserting/attaching some fort of guard yourself on the inside?
I have not seen pics to know the exact location or size, but maybe if you could use an empty "tupperware" type container to cover the area?

Big enough in diameter that if she does rub, it's edges are to the outside area of the wound, and then shallow enough to fit in place under the mask, but also deep enough that again, if she rubs, it won't touch the wound....
Some thing that won't collapse under some pressure, you know?
Also something with very smooth, thicker edges, so that if it does touch her, nothing will scrape or cut.

Does that make any sense at all, or was it just a bunch of gibberish!
Sure wish I could zip over! You know I'd be more than happy to try and make some thing to work....

I would be worried that sticking anything even semi hard on her face when she's already itching would just lead to more abrasions from the hard part than she already has. And I can see her getting frustrated and smacking her head into something harder because she's not getting the result she wanted. Is there any way to like tape a gauze pad over the wound with surgical tape? Give it an extra bit of protection when she does try to rub. Or tape the gauze pad to the fly mask itself so that she's got some extra padding that isn't necessarily bugging her even more because of surgical tape on her skin? It sounds like she just needs a lot of diligent care, and meds, and something to help cover her wound so that it really can heal. Too bad you can't wrap it like you can legs. I hope she heals up soon.

Thank you both! I think you BOTH are onto something with attaching something to the fly mask itself. I think DB's idea is good, because when she rubs with that fly mask on, it is like a mesh scratching her face, seems like that is the WORST thing. At least something soft...hmmm, maybe I will even dab some wound ointment on whatever soft item I attach? Although I don't want it to rub in her eye.

It really looks bad. As soon as the sun rises, i have to feed (about 15 min) and I am DREADING looking at it. Also, makes me sad, because she used to trot over to me in the paddock and now she runs from me. :(

Lasix is a diuretic. I can only guess that it's an adjunct for something else that was given to make it more effective.

In your explaination of what treatment was prescribed, I don't see anything to treat the underlying problem, larvae. Without addressing this, the wound will heal than reopen constantly. Dex is a steroid given for it's strong anti itch properties. Also, you do not need to give the injectable form in an injection. You can give it orally.

My boy had a summer sore last year, it wasn't getting better, and the vet just told me to treat it topically... I did some research online, and the problem is that the flies lie their eggs in the spot, and those larvae grow in there, which makes it so SUPER itchy.

So, the solution =) that pretty much instantly made everything a million times better and allowed for the huge sore to heal was Ivermectin! Just worming your horse with an ivermectin wormer kills the bots/larvae!

In addition I would also put SWAT (anti fly & ointment in one) cream on the spot, to kill of new flies (just to help the healing), but I think the Ivermectin paste is what you should try asap! I bought two tube, but it pretty much go better and stopped itching immediately, so I didn't need the second one. If it is super super bad, you may want to spread out two tube over a couple of days!

That's what a summer sore is. I realize we might all call things the same when they are in fact different but a summer sore is stomach worm larvae that is layed in an open wound or mucous membrane by flies. The simple solution is deworming with ivermectin. I would double dose or do 2 back to back daily doses. If the opening is somewhere other than by the eye, you can swab another tube of ivermectin on the wound itself.

Ok, thank ypu! I have been googling since my last post. I want tp add that the cream she gave me is 4 thongs cpmbined. A fly repellant, ssd wound cream....and I am embarrassed to say I dont know what the other 2 ingredients are, I will find out tomorrow. There might be sOmething that addresses thw larvae that I forgot about.Posted via Mobile Device

But I still want to do the oral dosing of ivermectin, also. Just want to get the go ahead from her. Is there any possible adverse reactions to double dosing? Also, why couldn't I wrap a bandage with some of her prescribed ointment on it around the wound? I could put the tape on yhe actual bandage, not on her skin.Posted via Mobile Device

Register Now

In order to be able to post messages on the The Horse Forum forums, you must first register.

Already have a Horse Forum account?
Members are allowed only one account per person at the Horse Forum, so if you've made an account here in the past you'll need to continue using that account. Please do not create a new account or you may lose access to the Horse Forum. If you need help recovering your existing account, please Contact Us. We'll be glad to help!

New to the Horse Forum?Please choose a username you will be satisfied with using for the duration of your membership at the Horse Forum. We do not change members' usernames upon request because that would make it difficult for everyone to keep track of who is who on the forum. For that reason, please do not incorporate your horse's name into your username so that you are not stuck with a username related to a horse you may no longer have some day, or use any other username you may no longer identify with or care for in the future.

User Name:

Password

Please enter a password for your user account. Note that passwords are case-sensitive.

Password:

Confirm Password:

Email Address

Please enter a valid email address for yourself.

Email Address:

OR

Log-in

User Name

Password

Remember Me?

Human Verification

In order to verify that you are a human and not a spam bot, please enter the answer into the following box below based on the instructions contained in the graphic.

Old Thread Warning

This thread is more than 90 days old. When a thread is this old, it is often better to start a new thread rather than post to it. However, If you feel you have something of value to add to this particular thread, you can do so by checking the box below before submitting your post.I am aware that this is an old thread and I want to revive it rather than starting a new thread.